Mike and Jay: Part 1

One of the things that worries me about returning to Canada is the sense of isolation that comes with knowing another world unfamiliar to those closest to you. But I’m a lucky girl. Just last week, two extremely close friends, Mike Gallant and Jason McKenzie, had the opportunity to spend a week with me in Zambia. This post is the story of our time together…..

Tuesday, Feb. 6th: I pick the boys up from the airport at 7am. We rush to the bus station hoping to catch a ride that’s leaving for Monze as quickly as possible. Fortunately, we get a ticket for the 9:30am bus. The man in charge tells me that the bus will leave between 9:30 and 10:00. Unfortunately, between watching a fight break out, using the washrooms, and lack of trust in bus line punctuality, we ended up watching our bus drive past us. Embarrassed and angry, I told the bus company I wanted my money back and that they would be my last option. One and a half hours later, we boarded the same bus company (I got Mike to repurchase the tickets) and we started our journey to the rural areas of Zambia.

Wednesday, Feb.7th: We spent most of the day in Monze, preparing to travel to Chipembele village where we would be spending 2 nights. We left Monze around 6pm in a taxi, excited, looking forward to our time in the village. Due to the heavy rains and flooding, we had to take a different route which no one had travelled before. The sun left us after we reached the dirt road and we had to get out of the car at each puddle to measure the depth with a stick. Of course, it was inevitable that we would get stuck and we spent half an hour digging the dirt out from under the cab. After 3 hours (only moving 40km), we arrived at Listene Hamalengwa’s house. Listene is in an interesting position in the village. Not only is he the Councillor (an elected post under local government), his brother is a lawyer living in Toronto, and he has two wives. Polygamy is somewhat common among the Tongas, especially in the rural areas. When we arrived at 10:00pm (very late by village standards), it was his very pregnant first wife, Testina, who welcomed us. This would be her seventh child and she looked as though she might just give birth any minute. Unfortunately, Listene was still attending a funeral and had the keys to his borther’s house where we would be staying. This caused Testina much stress since she felt we were tired and wanted to sleep. She looked exhausted, but was more concerned with us being comfortable and our bellies being full. By 11pm, Listene still hadn’t arrived, so this lovely lady started preparing beds for us in the sitting room with the help of the 10 or so children also spending the night (some were family, others were neighbours). Luckily soon after, Listene entered the yard with a punctured bike tire, tired and embarrassed. He and Testina prepared our rooms and put us to bed. Since I had a phone call scheduled with UNB that morning at 1am, Mike, Jay and I made our way to a spot where I could get phone reception. This spot happened to be the middle of a maize field, under a huge clear sky full of stars. We slept at 2:30am, exhausted from our long day. The next morning, we woke around 7am only to discover that Testina had delivered a baby girl just hours before in her room with the help of a midwife. She named her Jennifer.

None of us could believe that this lady had concealed her discomfort so effectively and had worried so much about us, her visitors, while she was obviously in pain. I admired her strength. But I also wondered about the extent to which women, not only in Zambia, are expected to conceal their true feelings for the sake of appearing strong and pleasing….
Part 2 of this post involves us weeding maize fields, girl talk, and a bus ride home with chickens ;)
Until next time, please stay healthy and peaceful.
Lv,
Jenn

Too Much Rains!

Rain. People love it. People hate it. It is essential for life. It can destroy people’s livelihoods.
Last year in Monze at this time, rains were a scarce commodity. They had started late (mid-December) and were infrequent. This year, the opposite has happened. Even though farmers lost some of their crops with the inadequate rains in 2007, many were still able to sell excess maize to the Food Reserve Agency (a government organization in Zambia that buys maize from farmers to store and distribute in the event of a food shortage or sell to foreign buyers). This year, though, the rains are ‘too much’. Maize plants are turning yellow even before the maize cob has started to grow. Fields are under water and fertilizer has been washed away. The flooding has made national and international headlines. Just last week, Zambia’s President Mwanawasa came by helicopter to visit our district to assess the damage caused by the daily downpours. Besides ruined fields, he saw fallen houses, bridges washed away and schools that have been closed in order to provide refuge to the homeless. Unfortunately, it is the vulnerable who suffer the most from this destruction. They are the ones whose houses are built from soil and grass. They are the ones who rely completely on their maize crops for food and income.

So what happens when your house has been washed away and your fields submerged under a metre of water? Stories of people sleeping on the side of roads, being squeezed into schools and health centers, migrating toward town have become common. Our district has organized a disaster management team comprised of representatives from NGOs, government, religious groups, and businesses in Monze, WaterAid Zambia included. The floods have become a cross cutting issue, affecting many sectors. Latrines have collapsed and pits have overflowed, increasing potential for cholera and diarrhea outbreaks. Children’s education has been put on hold due to closed schools and people living with HIV/AIDS are unable to access their medication due to washed out bridges. The disaster management team collects reports from the different sectors and then allocates resources they’ve received from the central government accordingly. The whole process is bureaucratic and slow, but there are committed and determined people who will work to ensure that as many people as possible receive the support they need. The government has even suspended their fertilizer subsidy programme in order to redirect those funds toward disaster relief. It will take a lot of time, and the effects of the floods will last long after the media attention has disappeared and the government’s priority shifts to other issues. It’s the responsibility of the local authorities and the people on the ground to continue advocating for those who have been forgotten but still need support.

Until next time,
Lv Jenn